Feed device for bean-sorting machines



' A. ROCHELEAU ED DEVICE FOR BEAN SORTING MACHINES June 19, 1923.

Filed Jan. 19, 1923 ATTORNEY $INQENTOR Patented June 19, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALPHONSO ROCHELEAU, OF SAGINA'W, lYfICI-IIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO HARTBROTHERS, OF

- SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, A OOBPGRATION OF MICHIGAN.

FEED DEVICE FOR BEAN-SORTING MACHINES.

Application filed January 19, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHONSO ROCHE- LEAU, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FeedDevices for Bean-Sorting Machines; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to automatic feed devices for bean sortingmachines and the like and pertains more particularly to an improved feeddevice especially adapted for feeding beans to roll sorting machines ofthe character shown and described in my co pending application, SerialNo. $10,838 of 1922, in whichI employed a plurality of pairs of sortingroll shafts, each shaft carrying a plurality of short roll sections,these sections operatively arranged in pairs. Each pair of short rollsections is provided with an individual feed mechanism and twoindividual delivery mechanisms, one for delivering good beans dischargedfrom the end pair of short roll sections and the other for deliveringthe split or defective beans that pass between the rolls comprising eachpair of short sections.

A bean sorting machine of the character described requires that eachpair of short roll sections, (and there may be many such pairs ofsections on each shaft), shall be provided with an individual feedmechanism that will supply one bean at a time. The effective operationof multiple short roll sections requires that beans be fed prac ticallyone at a time, so as to avoid the possibility of their piling up orjamming in the trough or groove formed by the two coacting rollsections.

My present improvement, therefore, relates to an improved means forfeeding beans one at a time, but very rapidly, to each of the pairs ofshort roll sections on a pair of shafts, there being sometimes as manyas eight or ten of such pairs of short roll sections on each pair ofshafts.

My improvement further provides means for simultaneously feeding beansone at a time, not only to all of the plurality of pairs of short rollsections on a given pair of shafts, but also to all of such sect-ionsSerial No. 618,689.

on any desired number of pairs of shafts arranged side by side, so thatby one mechanism as many as one-hundred or more feed devices may beoperated to feed as many pairs of short picking rolls, each roll sectionbeing fed with a practically continuous stream of beans, butthe feeddevice being so constructed that only one bean at a time is fed to anyone pair of roll sections.

A further object of my improvement is to provide means whereby beans inbulk may be rapidly and automatically distributed and fed in the mannerabove described, to a great number of roll sections simultaneously. 'ihequantity of bulk beans is first divided into smaller bulk units andthese bulk units are then subdivided simultaneously, each unit into asmany as eight or ten separate feeds, through each of which beans aredelivered, one at a time, to the roll sections "eneath.

lVith the foregoing and certain other objects in view which will appearlater in the specifications, my invention comprises the devicesdescribed and claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings Fig. l is a perspective view showing diagrammatically aplurality of pairs of roll shafts, each pair carrying a plurality ofshort roll sections, the feeding device forming the substance of mypresent invention being shown above the feed rolls and separatedtherefrom for sake of clearness.

F 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of a part of the feeding frame andits mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 2 as they appear when viewedfrom beneath.

Fig. 4c is an end view in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing the relativearrangement of the reciprocating feed trough and the apertured bottomcross-bar of the feed frame through which the beans are delivered to therespective roll sections.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, 1 indicates a plurality of pairs ofrolls arranged on parallel roll shafts in the usual manner and asdescribed in my co-pending application above referred to.

Above the rolls and in proximity thereto is a stationary feed frameincluding botof the parts shown tom cross-bars 2 and side rails 3.Longitudinally extending bottom slats 41 are secured to the cross-bars2, but spaced apart to provide longitudinal spaces or guideways 5between said slats.

Each cross-bar is formed with holes 6, each hole located above the upperend of a pair of short roll sections and communicating with the spacesor guideways 5.

In each one of the guideways 5 is mounted a longitudinally movablereciprocating trough 7 which may be of sheet metal. This trough isprovided in its bottom with longitudinally disposed elongated holes 8registering with the holes 6 in cross-bar 2, the elongated holes beingof sufficient length so that the holes 6 in the cross bars are alwaysopen while the trough is being reciprocated.

There are as many troughs 7 as there are pairs of short roll sections onone of the pairs of roll shafts, that is to say, if there are eightpairs of short roll sections on a pair of shafts, there will be providedeight troughs 7 and there will be as many perforated cross-bars 2 asthere are pairs of shafts. For each pair of short roll sections 1 therewill be a feed hole 6 directly above the rolls and an elongated feedopening 8 co-operating therewith.

All longitudinally movable troughs 7 may be connected by a bar or yoke9, and this bar with its attached troughs may be. rapidly reciprocatedby any suitable means, as an eccentric 10 and its shaft 11.

To feed beans simultaneously into the troughs 7 at places above thevarious pairs of roll sections I provide transverse partitions 12, 12extending across the feed frame from side to side and secured at theirends to the side rails 3, 3 as shown in Fig. 1. The space between eachpair of transverse partitions 12, 12 comprises a small hopper, thebottom of this hopper formed by alternate slats 4: and troughs 7 so thatbeans fed into the hoppers between the partitions 12, 12 will. escapethrough the reciprocating troughs 7 and move along the troughs in singlerows, one bean behind the other. The reciprocating movement of thetrough feeds the beans two or three at a time into the elongated hole 8and as these beans are moved along with the trough they drop one at atime through the holes 6 onto the corresponding short picking rollsection 1.

Beans may be supplied to the space between the pair of transversepartitions 12, 12 in any suitable manner as for example by the feedspouts 13, which take their supply from the feed hopper 1e, this hopperin turn being supplied from supply spouts 15 and main supply 16.

By the means above described I have produced a simple, easilyconstructed and inexpensive feeding device, whereby a great number ofshort pairs of picking rolls may be simultaneously supplied with beansin such a way that one bean at a time will be fed to a given pair ofrolls, but the beans will follow each other with great rapiditycomprising in fact an almost steady stream, to each roll section.

Since there are a great number of roll sections in one machine, itfollows that the rate of supply will be very great, and the capacity ofsuch a picking machine will be enormously increased by the use of myimproved multiple feed mechanism as herein described and claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a bean sorting machine of the class described, a pair of rolls, afeed frame, bottom cross-bars on said frame, each cross bar formed witha hole located above each pair of rolls, a longitudinally movablereeiprocating trough formed with an elongated hole in the bottomthereof, said hole registering with the hole in said cross-bar, andmeans for imparting reciprocatory movement to said trough.

2. In a sorting machine of the class described, a plurality of pairs ofsorting rolls, each pair comprising a plurality of short roll sections,a feed frame, a plurality of bottom cross-bars on said frame, each crossbar formed with a hole located above a pair of short roll sections ofeach pair of sorting rolls, a longitudinally movable reciprocatingtrough formed with elongated holes in the bottom thereof, each of saidelongated holes registering with a hole of one of said crossbars, andmeans for imparting reciprocatory movement to said troughs.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ALPHONSO RQCHELEAU.

